Untitled Story
by Bluegirl11375
Summary: Chapter Two Up: Ai's search for Shinichi.
1. Prologue

Prologue

She stared out the window. Another night full of stars, but no star could seem to cheer her up. With a sigh, she went to close light and crawled into bed. She could feel tears coming into her eyes, rolling down hr face and fall into her pillow. Her vision blurred—she just closed her eyes and welcomed the darkness. It was pure foolishness to cry because of this, but she can't help anything. She just missed him; missed him dearly. She couldn't describe her feeling, mixed with worry and loneliness.

She knew. She knew something's going to happen. Her heart told her so.

She knew. She knew who Conan truly was. There was no way he couldn't be. It wasn't because of the fact that his brain cannot be that of a seven year olds. It wasn't even how he looked. It was the way he walked, the way he spoke, the way he smiled—everything, in ten years, in a hundred years, she could not forget.

Perhaps that was why she was this open with him. The first day she met him, when she took him home with her, what she told him on the way home. These weren't things she would tell a six year old boy. Something made her tell him. Something, a feeling, that made her tell him something she could not tell Shinichi. She knew from the beginning—she had always known.

And something about Ai—she had always known that as well. She had always been afraid of Ai. Ai could never be a child. Something in her eyes told her, her icy blue eyes that seemed to know of a sorrow that she herself could never comprehend. Ai—she wasn't a regular girl.

And now, there was something wrong. Everything's wrong. They disappeared. Conan and Ai--they were gone, and she did not know why.

That one day, the day when she came home, smiling as she thought of the hungry face of Conan, groaning for food. But he wasn't there. When she tried to contact Dr. Agasa, he was gone as well. They've disappeared off the face of the earth.

Usually, she would have called the police—immediately. This time, she didn't. Something told her not to. She knew that if she got the police into this thing, it would hurt Shinichi more. Yes, Shinichi, not Conan. She remembered the last thing he told her on the phone.

"**_Ran, I left you without saying goodbye, and you do not hate me. If I leave again without saying goodbye, do not hate me."_**

And there was that click on the phone. Her heart pricked. It hurt her so much. This time, he really left. And he wasn't going to come back again. She knew. Her heart told her so.

She hates him.


	2. Disappearance and Search

ONE: DISAPPEARANCE AND SEARCH

A little girl dressed in a tan overcoat and a blue baseball cap—blue eyes, caffeine hair—with perspiration dripping from her chin, ran to the side of a building and took a short rest before moving again. She tried her hardest to ignore the pain exploding inside of her. The glasses were beginning to slide off her nose. In its right lense was a blue map.

'Only one more mile…' she thought.

It has never occurred to her that it will come to this. She has never truly felt secure, but she didn't expect the Organization to find out so quickly. How many people could recognize that she, Haibara Ai, was truly Miyano Shiho, and how many people could recognize that the cute little boy, Edogawa Conan, was truly Kudo Shinichi?

But it was true—the Organization found out at last. Ai knew that they would have found out sooner or later by the carelessness of that smarty-pants detective over there. She wondered how? What leaked? But it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that they got Kudo.

Everything happened so quickly…

This morning, she'd walked to school with him and after recess, he had already disappeared. Ai expected him to have gone to the library or somewhere else, but when class started, he wasn't at his desk. This was when Ai got worried. Kudo never liked class, but he was punctual enough to not be twenty minutes late.

Ai quickly ran out of the room and raced down the hall, realizing that something was wrong.

'Where did I see Kudo last?'

Ai ran to the playground, to the bench where Kudo sat during recess reading a book. She was stopped in her tracks when she saw that familiar pair of glasses hidden in the grass beside the bench. And then, she realized—it was definitely the Organization. Kudo would never take off his glasses unless—.

Ai instantly dropped the thought, picked up the glasses and ran. She still didn't know how much the Organization figured out. They knew at least about Kudo. What about herself? Her next destination: Dr. Agasa's. She needed to make sure that the Organization did not start their hunting of Kudo's connections.

When Ai approached Dr. Agasa's home, she knew that the Organization didn't do anything to Agasa. She knew the feeling of a killed place, a place polluted by the Organization. That death feeling…it wasn't present. And sure enough, Agasa was inside the living room, eating ramen and watching TV.

"Ai! What are you here for? Aren't you suppose to be at school?"

"Professor! Kudo disappeared!" and Ai explained everything in the breath she had left. The professor was perplexed. What did the Organization truly know? Doing too much would signify that there Conan wasn't just a regular kid but doing too little if the Organization knew about everything would be stupid. Only way: try to find Kudo without reporting anything.

So therefore, Conan was "on vacation" for some period of time with his family. Dr. Agasa phoned the school and called for Conan's leave. And now, it's time to find Kudo.

Kudo must have left some message. He's too must smart not to. Ai took the glasses out of her pocket.

"Professor, isn't there something like a tracking device to this? Where's the switch?"

Agasa showed it to her, and there it was: a blinking red light.

"Aha! Shinichi! We could definitely find him."

"You mean _I _could definitely find him. You stay out of this." Ai said in an icey tone. The professor looked at her and saw her eyes already frozen. Ai continued, "Professor, there's no point in dragging you into this. If I fail, I need someone to tell Ran—Kudo needs someone to tell Ran. If Ran gets hurt, that's more painful than killing him. If this fails, and Ran doesn't know the truth, she will think that he's abandoned her. Kudo won't allow that. No matter what happens, we need someone to at least _try _to keep Ran safe. I know trying to run from the Organization is futile, but maybe they still haven't figured it all out. If they didn't, then perhaps there'll still be a chance for you, Ran and the rest even if I fail to save Kudo."

"Ai— "

"Trust me, professor," her voice was in a monotone. "Keep yourself safe, for Ran's sake, for Kudo's sake. Even though I may seem very isolated from Kudo, and especially Ran, perhaps I may understand them more than you, Kudo, or Ran may ever imagine."

The professor stared at Ai, and he didn't know her. He had seen her cold before, but never _frozen. _Her voice had never been so monotone, her eyes more serious, her heart more determined. He sighed, and surrendered the battle.

"Okay, Ai. It's all yours. I'll keep out of this."

"Move into a hotel or somewhere. You cannot stay here."

"Should I tell Ran about Shinichi's truth?"

"No. Let her be. Don't even contact her. If the Organization didn't even go for you, they won't go for her. Not _yet. _And it isn't safe to contact each other. A big thing screaming out for the Organization's attention. Just keep an eye on her in the dark. Keep her safe. I'll run after Kudo. I won't contact you either, and I won't know where you will stay. Try to separate from contact from any of Kudo's close friends, or the Organization will find out. After one week, if I'm still not back with Kudo, it's a failure. Take Ran and hide. Don't try to go to another country: the Organization could easily find the ticket and record. Just hide. And now, I have to go find Kudo."

"Good luck, Ai."

"You too, professor." Ai walked to the door, turned around and took a last look at the professor. Will she ever see that face again? The face of a smiling father who took her in and the first to show her kindness for this year? Ai put on the glasses, walked out the door and didn't look back…

"Kudo. At least I can be sure that you won't kill me for not protecting Ran." thought Ai, and she didn't know whether it was sarcastic or not.

The sun was already setting. The sky was spotted with clouds of pink and orange. "Dear God, if I die, let me be a cloud. I want to know how it feels like to be pure and light." And she ran on. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
